


Knowing

by 222Ravens



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Character Study, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:51:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7990867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/222Ravens/pseuds/222Ravens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>tfw u re-write your class notes into Kirk/Spock fic, bcs 50th Anniversary.</p><p>or:</p><p>"And yet, in his time in Star Fleet, if he has learned one thing, it is that the galaxy is constantly changing, and there is always that which is unexpected to one’s experiences."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowing

**Author's Note:**

> So, Star Trek 50th Anniversary today, so admittedly the subject matter is on my mind.
> 
> Modern Sociology Theory class, though, and my prof starts out by asking “What is worth knowing?” & then he starts talking.
> 
> And I’m making notes, casual-like, until he suddenly ask, “Okay, forget about worth knowing. What do you find interesting? How do you know that?”
> 
> Except instead of ‘interesting’, my brain heard Spock’s voice saying ‘fascinating’.
> 
> That was funny, except. then the prof started talking more about ‘how we know things’ & how we engage wit theories, and I just…. Kept writing it down while thinking about Spock.
> 
> So anyway here’s the Spock character study with heavy Kirk/Spock leaning that came out of that.
> 
> This is literally approximately 85% my class notes, just rearranged, with minor edits and a few words changed & a bit of structure added.
> 
> because why study my notes the BORING way, when i can make fic out of them, eh?

**knowing**

Theory. Derived from. theoria, from Greek

_“A looking at, contemplation, speculation.”_

* * *

 

The word is apt, Spock thinks, sometimes.

What is worthy of knowing is a complicated question, and how it becomes known is more complicated, besides.

Knowledge is not mere rote, especially not when one wishes to not merely know something, but understand it.

Contrary to what some may argue, logic does not preclude acknowledging this. Far from it. 

Understanding is an active process, that has many avenues. It is personal.

For Spock, theorizing, often begins, simply put with that which he finds fascinating.

Information is one thing.

Theories, however, by definition,  are not static. 

They are not something which he can can merely sit & think about, passively. That is a part of the process, true.

And yet, in his time in Star Fleet, if he has learned one thing, it is that the galaxy is constantly changing, and there is always that which is unexpected to one’s experiences.

Wherever possible, Spock strives to brings his own personal history to the subject, to acknowledge how the way he perceived anything reflects his own one’s position in relation to everything else.

But he must also engage in preparations to incorporate this body of knowledge. Be willing to take up an informed perspective, produce insights that allow himself to understand something in a new way.

His understandings, our frameworks, our thought systems, must be fluid. To remain solid, yet for a theory to be applicable, it must changes every time it encounters a new idea or object, incorporate that.

Indeed, in order to learn, one strategy he has found, is merely to hold onto the thoughts & the connections that come, when something fascinates.

It can be the best starting point.

Something is fascinating, and he opens with that. Spends time with it. See where it leads him. Tries out different ways of looking at it.

What if he were to take that, the thought or thing, and place it in relation to something else?

To try that out. Think about the _why,_ in how that thing struck him as fascinating.

Thinks about the process of reading a theory, or an aspect of anything.

Sometimes it can be quite difficult, for him. There were many factors, areas where he became adrift.

Sometime things will be expected of yhim. Where his lack of understanding of something, hinged on the assumption that he already possesed have a certain body of knowledge, or a specific background, or context.

One that, until now, he had lacked.

But there are strategies he can employ, anyway.

He makes notes. Mental, and more physical. Think about what strikes him. Think of himself as entering into a conversation with it. A journey.

The idea is, when he reads something, it can nott be a passive process. 

Not just taking in information, but engaging with it. He must have to approach it with certain questions in mind.

Another useful strategy is to ask himself certain questions. 

What does it say? Moreover, what does it do?

More than that, what role does each aspect of it fulfill? 

What is the role of the whole of it? 

What argument is it making, by its presence?

What does it want you to believe?

He isn’t not wholly gullible. He mantains certain degree of skepticism, a critical response. 

But after a great deal of effort he has learned to be open minded. To allow himself to take in the argument.

Everyone wants to persuade you of something.

What is fundamentally at _stake_ here?

He will try and identify that, so he can assess it, and act with that in mind.

And yes.

On its most basic of levels, It is indeed what most individuals, of many species do, every day.

Trying to understand the world around oneself, who one interacts with, how we fit into that.

Too, it can also be source of… Some might describe it as pleasure, even.  Spock would say there is satisfaction of in producing a different sort of knowledge, outside of the habitual knowledge.

This is as much true of understanding humans as anything else.

As much true of understanding any one human, in particular.

Of letting them become a part of one’s worldview.

 Inextricably. Inevitably, perhaps.

One of the most challenging theories of Spock’s life was the question of feelings, emotions. What role they played.

Of, dare he admit even to himself, _love._

And never did his theories of it truly & fully coalesce, until it encountered the subject matter he found most fascinating.

Namely, one James Tiberius Kirk.


End file.
